"Getting To The Point": Using GIST and Magnet Summary in Teaching Summary Writing at The CSEC Level.

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND EDUCATION

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ST. AUGUSTINE
POSTGRADUATE UNIT
POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN EDUCATION
PROGRAMME
(In-Service)
YEAR: 2014/2015
Curriculum Study
TOPIC:
Getting to the point: Using GIST and Magnet Summary

in teaching summary writing at the CSEC level.
SUBMITTED BY:
HASSAN BASARALLY
806007430
(Name & ID#)
TUTOR: MS. S. PHILLIP

This Paper is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Postgraduate
Diploma in Education Programme, School of Education, The University of the West Indies,
St. Augustine, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
DATE: Friday 10th April, 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTIONS
PAGE
Abstract...............................................................................................................2
Introduction.........................................................................................................3
Literature Review................................................................................................8
Methodology.....................................................................................................13
Findings............................................................................................................24
Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations...........................................36
Works Cited .....................................................................................................40
Appendices ......................................................................................................42
Running Head: GIST AND MAGNET SUMMARY
Getting to the point: Using GIST and Magnet Summary in teaching summary
writing at the CSEC level
Hassan Basarally
University of the West Indies, St. Augustine
School of Education
EDLA 5240: Teaching of English
Abstract
Students at the CSEC level in the researchers school have had difficulty in
summary writing, particularly in identifying the main idea, and combining it with
supporting details. Two alternative teaching strategies to the existing practice
were implemented: Generating Interaction between Schemata and Text (GIST)
and Magnet Summary. Through these strategies, the researcher aims to provide
students with more effective methods of identifying the main ideas and
supporting details. The effectiveness of the strategies will also develop student
self-efficacy in the topic, making the task less daunting and encouraging more
students to attempt it. The success of the strategies will provide the researcher
a proven effective best practice to implement in the future. A mixed method
approach was used, utilising qualitative and quantitative data. A Pre-test and
Post-test, and questionnaire with open ended and fixed responses was
administered at the end of instruction in both strategies. A student journal at
the end of the intervention was also collected. A self-efficacy test was also
administered before and after the intervention. The data showed an
improvement in performance in both GIST and Magnet Summary and an
improvement in student self-efficacy regarding skills in summary writing.
Key words: GIST, Magnet Summary, Summary Writing, Self-efficacy
Chapter 1
Introduction
Background
The target school is a former Junior Secondary School in the Caroni
Education District of Trinidad that was deshifted with its highest level being
Form Five. The school is struggling to rid itself of the stigma of a low performing
academic institution. It was a pilot school for the Same Sex Schools Programme,
receiving an all-girls cohort which resulted it its perception being improved; as
the female students generally scored higher in the Secondary Entrance
Assessment (SEA) and are believed to be more disciplined. When the
programme was discontinued, a mixed intake was sent, however, many
students in these batches were classified as remedial students by the Ministry
of Education.
Generally, English language and literature is perceived as difficult subjects
by the students. Other departments have yet to engage in the practice of
English across the Curriculum. The pass rate in the Caribbean Secondary
Education Certificate (CSEC) English A examination in 2014 is 31%, up from
15% in 2013. The school runs on a six day timetable of forty two periods, six
periods are allocated to English per cycle. The CSEC level classes are streamed
based on academic performance in school exams, as such there may be

additional periods allocated to classes which are deemed weak in English.
The English department consists of a Head of Department (HOD), an
acting Dean and five teachers. Department meetings are held every cycle and
teachers are given the autonomy to use varied strategies in the classroom. The
CSEC English syllabus is given preference in the Form Four and Five levels as
opposed to the national curriculum, which is more adhered to in the lower
forms. Textbooks are provided via the Textbook Rental Programme and texts are
vetted by teachers before being requested. In addition, there is ample material
available to supplement the textbooks used at the school.
An analysis of the CSEC results over the past five years showed that
students were consistently scoring poorly in the Expression profile of the exam,
in most cases attaining a C or below. Also, it suggests that improvement is
needed in the expository writing components of the examination. Generally,
summary writing is taught in the first term of Form Five in the hope that
students would transfer some of the writing and comprehension skills from short
story writing. However, experience has shown two consistent complaints from
the students: a difficulty in understanding the texts and inability to combine the
main ideas in the text to create a summary. The students generally do not read
outside of the classroom and are uninformed about current events. This results
in difficulty comprehending the passages, which are informative, expository and
seem abstract. When the main ideas are identified, students have difficulty in
linking the ideas cohesively to form a new paragraph and in many cases string
together key fragments of the passage without rephrasing. These issues align
with some other shortfalls in summary writing which include writing too much or
too little and writing back the passage given (Jones, 2012). The way summary
writing is taught at the school is through a formal process called the Rule-Based
Strategy in which students are to follow a set rules or step to identify the
important information in a passage and then produce a summary (Marzano
et.al., 2001).
It appears that the students are not grasping the skills of summary writing
through the use of the Rule-based Strategy. Current research offer many new
strategies to teaching the topic. The two methods to be tested will be
Generating Interaction between Schemata and Text (GIST) and Magnet
Summary. GIST makes students divide the text into manageable sections and
interrogate it through the use of the questions: Who, What, When, Why, and
How (Fey et. al., 2003). Magnet Summary, on the other hand, involves students
condensing reading to key words and phrases which are then combined to
produce sentences to be incorporated into a summary (Urquhart and McIver,
2005). The skill of summary writing is not limited to the English classroom. It is
a tool for developing comprehension across the curriculum. Summary writing
encourages the readers active involvement with the text (Zygouris-Coe et. al.
2005). This involvement includes, asking questions and drawing inferences from
the text, a skill which allows easy understanding of content areas in the
curriculum and texts read for information and pleasure.
Problem Statement
Students currently have difficulty applying the Rule Based Strategy to
produce summaries. The students are unable to accurately identify all the main
ideas in a passage and synthesise the information to produce a coherent
summary. Though the strategy has been used for a long period of time, in
textbooks and in the school, there are alternative methods of teaching summary
writing based on sound academic research. As an intervention, two alternative
methods will be used to determine the effectiveness on the different strategies.
The alternatives to be used are Generating Interaction between Schemata and

Text (GIST) and Magnet Summary. GIST involves students and/or the teacher
discussing the material as they read through it, asking themselves questions as
to what are the main concepts of the passage studied. Magnet Summary
involves selecting a central idea from each paragraph or section and attach to it
supporting details.
Purpose Statement
This study will evaluate the effectiveness of GIST and Magnet Summary as
alternative methods of direct instruction to the Rule-based Strategy. In addition,
it will determine the effect of these new techniques on student self-efficacy
regarding summary writing.
Research questions
1. Will the use of GIST or Magnet Summary aid students in accurately
identifying the main ideas and supporting details in a passage, and
combining them to produce a summary?
2. Will the use of GIST or Magnet Summary improve student self-efficacy at
summary writing?
Significance of Study
The study will allow the researcher to meet a critical need of the students.
It will allow the evaluation of current practices in teaching summary writing and
test new strategies in instruction with the aim of arriving at the best approach
for the particular sample. Hence, the researcher finds a best practice to use in
the classroom. The researcher, in addition to colleagues at the institution, has
observed students struggling with summary writing across the CSEC level. If the
intervention is successful, the task will become easier; student scores will
increase and eventually result in a greater performance in exam. With greater

competency in skills associated with summary writing, the students selfefficacy can improve and the task will be seen as something more manageable.
The research will expand on the current knowledge in effective teaching
strategies in summary writing. It hopes to address the problem of low student
performance in the writing component at the CSEC level at the school, as the
skills are transferable to other parts of the syllabus and curriculum.
Organisation of the paper
This paper will consist of five chapters:
1. Introduction
2. Literature review of academic articles on the topics of summary writing,
methods of teaching summary writing and the link between student selfefficacy and writing
3. Research methodology outlining the sample, instruments to be used to
collect data and how the data will be analysed
4. Presentation of findings as it relates to the research questions
5. Discussion, conclusions, and recommendations based on the data
collected and its relationship to previous studies and theory.
Chapter 2
Literature Review
Summary writing is a skill that embodies the concept of English across the
Curriculum, as it is a tool in comprehension as well as a writing skill. This
section will look at the cognitive skills involved in summary writing, the
difficulties students face in the task, academic literature on GIST and Magnet
Summary, and the link between student self-efficacy and performance in
writing. Students who become skilled at summary writing are able to
comprehend, interact and manipulate expository texts across the curriculum
(Casazza, 1993). Any discourse into the topic must take into consideration the
following areas: the cognitive skills that are required by summary writing, the
problems that students meet in the task, how the topic has been traditionally
taught, and new strategies that could be employed.
Summary writing produces certain linguistic and cognitive challenges, as
there exists the microstructure that represents the relationships in the sentence
of the text, and macrostructure which represents the relationship between
blocks of sentences or paragraphs, and the organisation of the text (Hutchins,
1987). Semantic cohesion is the major part of the microstructure that students
are required to understand. These are the semantic links between sentences or
clauses that provide cohesion achieved mainly through subordinators,
conjunctions and lexical items that denote compatibility, contrast, consequence,
cause etc. At the macrostructure, students are expected to understand the
schemata of the text. The schema is the sequence of episodes or points in the
text, or simply the plot or script, readers infer the schemata through the initial
sentences of the text. On analysis of the relationships within the text, Hutchins
(1987) derived four components of summarisation: comprehension of
microstructure, identification of schemata, generalising and condensing of the
macrostructure, and expressing it in a coherent text.
More recently Marzano et al. have described three aspects of effective
summary writing: deleting, substituting and keeping information, analysis of the
text at a deep level, and awareness of the structure of the text (2001). Other
researchers have highlighted that effective summarisation involves recall and
planning. Brown et al. describe summary writing as not just a measure or
automatic retention, the ability to work recursively on the information to render
it as succinctly as possible requires judgement and effort, knowledge and
strategies (1983, p. 25). The research found that the younger students copied
verbatim, while older students restated information. Though the findings were
derived from comparing different age groups as opposed to different abilities on
the same level, it can be assumed that the strategies displayed by the older
students could be found in the components of summarisation observed by
Hutchins (1987). Kirkland and Saunders (1991) explain that summary writing
has internal and external constraints to the student. External constraints include
familiarity with the schema, length of the text, abstractness etc. The internal
constraints are the cognitive load placed on students which include analysis,
super-ordination, reconceptualisation, evaluation and selection.
It is clear that summary writing involves many higher level cognitive skills
that require development in students. The Caribbean Secondary Education
Certificate (CSEC) English A examination includes a compulsory summary
writing question. Over the years, the examinations governing body, the
Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), has published reports on candidates

performance. One problem identified in the most recent report is the limited use
of transitional words, the inability to interpret or express relationships and lifting
of phrases and sentences directly from the passage (CXC, 2014). Any strategy
to be used in teaching summary writing must focus on synthesis of information.
Summary writing is difficult for many students, explicit instruction
demonstrates processes to struggling writers, and simultaneously it moves
more competent students to higher levels or proficiency as they benefit from
exposure to models (Urquhart and McIver, 2005). It is recommended that
students be taught through explicit instruction, but via an embedded approach.
This allows the skills taught to be transferred to other areas as there is no
concern for memorising content-related material and allows practice of the skill
(Rhoder, 2002). A traditional method of teaching summary writing is through
the Rule-based Strategy. This method requires students to adhere to a set of
rules in its exact order: deleting trivial material, deleting redundant material,
substituting subordinate terms for lists, and selecting or inventing a topic
sentence. According to Brown and Day (1983), students started with just
copying from the text and deleting trivial information, but only the advanced
students were able to manipulate the structure of the sentences already
provided to them. Therefore, the rules were not placed only in order of difficulty,
but followed the developmental progression in terms of degree of cognitive
intervention needed to apply each rule (Brown et al., 1980, p. 18). This
strategy, like the alternatives to be used, demonstrates the need for explicit
instruction in writing in general.
Generating Interaction between Schemata and Text (GIST) is a
collaborative approach involving the teacher and student posing and answering
questions while reading the text (Frey et al., 2003). The text is divided into
sections or stopping points. At the end of each stopping point the teacher and
students discuss the meaning of what was read and explain any vocabulary
met. Following that, a single summary sentence is created. This process is
repeated until the end of the text. The different summary sentences come
together to form a prcis, the sentences are combined through transitional
words, dependent clauses etc. to form a summary. According to Cunningham,
the strategys developer, the students analyse ways to delete non-essential
information and use their own words to summarize the main idea or the gist
of the selection (1982). Frey et al.s study involving adolescents with little
stamina for sustained writing yielded two main benefits for the students: the
creation of complex sentences to convey more information and self-editing
(2003).
Another of the strategies to be implemented in the teaching of summary
writing is Magnet Summary. The strategy identifies the key term or concept or
magnet word, from which the students organise important information around.
The first step is identifying the magnet word, after which important details
connected to this word are drawn to it. This process is repeated with each
section or paragraph of the text. Sentences are constructed from each detail
associated with each magnet word and combined to create a summary. The
major advantages of using magnet summaries is that it encourages students to
write concepts from the text into their own words, construct meaningful
synthesis of what was read and easily identify main ideas (Buehl, 2001). Buehl,
the methods developer, used the strategy with ninth-grade students and found
that the strategy develops the ability to separate main ideas from supporting
details, an understanding of any jargon used is achieved and students become
able to reduce texts the most essential elements (2014). In addition, because
magnet summaries condense reading about specific topics into several key
words or phrases it allows incorporation of all the relevant information (Urquhart
and McIver, 2005).
Despite a small number of studies focussing on summary writing in
general and GIST or Magnet Summary in particular, the research shows that
both strategies place great emphasis on developing an understanding of the
content matter of the text before embarking on writing the summary itself.
However, a potential drawback of both is that students may have difficulty
when a paragraph or section contains more than one main idea, as is the case
with most expository pieces that have information interwoven in it. With
practice and, understanding and implementation of the teaching strategies,
students will develop a greater proficiency in identifying all the main ideas in a
passage and navigate the expository techniques and complexities of the author.
Much focus has been given to the link between student self-efficacy and
performance in writing. Self-efficacy refers to the beliefs a person has about
individual ability. It is defined as people's beliefs about their capabilities to
produce designated levels of performance (Bandura, 1994, p. 71). Students
with a low self-efficacy towards a task will avoid it and one way of developing it
is through performance accomplishments (Schunk, 1991). Performance
accomplishments are dependent of the effectiveness of teaching strategies and
the students cognitive abilities relating to task. Even though self-efficacy is not
the only determinant of self-regulating behaviour, it is still a contributor. Pajares
(2003) listed the three most popular ways of measuring writing self-efficacy:
possession of specific writing skills, ability to display those skills and confidence
in completing a writing task. Therefore instruction geared towards developing
self-efficacy must focus on both the skills for the task and the final piece of
writing where those skills are employed. Students who possess any of the
measures of self-efficacy will possess a high level of motivation which is a vital
force in success or failure at school (Graham & Weiner, 1996). In the simplest
terms, an elevated level of confidence results in students willing to attempt
writing tasks that are perceived as difficult, hence the chance of scoring a
higher grade is increased.
Chapter 3
Research Methodology
Purpose of the Study
As the Rule-based Strategy of teaching summary writing has not produced
student competence in the area, the study evaluated the effectiveness of the
use of GIST and Magnet Summary as alternative methods of direct instruction.
In addition, it determined if the different methods have positively affected
student self-efficacy in the area.
Research Questions
1. Will the use of GIST or Magnet Summary aid students in accurately
2. Will the use of GIST or Magnet Summary improve student performance
and self-efficacy at summary writing?
This chapter describes the design of the research and describes the target
group of students and classroom setting. It explains the instruments used to
collect data and the method of data analysis. A unit map and unit objectives for
the planned intervention are also stated.
Design
The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of GIST and
Magnet Summary in aiding students to better elicit information from texts and
synthesise the information into a coherent summary. It also aimed to determine
if the strategies developed student self-efficacy in summary writing. The
research type used was action research, which identifies a dilemma in a specific
context facing the researcher while systematically collecting data and
developing an intervention. The main point of action research is to find out
more about what is going on in your own local context in order to change or
improve current practice in that situation (Burns, in Heigham & Croker, 2009,
pp. 115).
The research aimed to see the effect of the intervention on both student
scores in assessments and attitudes towards the task. As such, a mixed
methods approach was used, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative
methods. The benefit of this approach is that it allows the researcher to collect
both numeric information and text to answer the research questions (Ivankova
& Creswell in Heigham & Croker, 2009).
The most suitable type of mixed method design to the research is
Triangulation Design. Data was not collected in a sequential order; instead,
qualitative and quantitative data was collected simultaneously, even concerning
the same research question. This method allowed the collection of both types of
data on a single phenomenon so that it can be compared (Ivankova & Creswell
in Heigham & Croker, 2009). This was most suited for the research, as it sought
to investigate the effects of two different methods of teaching summary writing
on student performance, competence and self-efficacy. Though the method was
not time consuming, it required equal careful analysis of the qualitative and
quantitative data to produce accurate and valid findings.
The quantitative data was derived from a pre-test and post-test. A pretest was administered before each strategy was taught to provide a base score
for comparison when the method of instruction is implemented. The pre-test
and post-test was assessed using a rubric allocating marks for length, form,
content, process and meaning (See Appendix 1). In addition, qualitative and
quantitative data was obtained from a questionnaire with both set and openended questions (See Appendix 2). The questionnaires were distributed and
collected at the end of direct instruction in GIST and Magnet Summary. The use
of questionnaires allows the students sufficient time to complete the feedback
and enables them to respond in their own words (Kothari, 2004). However, a
potential drawback is that all questionnaires would be returned; to address this
researcher assigned a forty minute teaching period for completion of the
questionnaires and clarified the meaning of any question if asked during this
period. These way only students absent on the day would not have completed
the questionnaire. However, it was noticed that respondents did not elaborate
responses in the open ended questions and student journals.
Non-numerical data was also collected through open-ended questions on
the student questionnaire and student journals. Student journals gauged their
understanding and response to the intervention used (See Appendix 3). The
journals were administered at the end of the intervention and provided insight
from the participants viewpoint and also showed the progression of learning
over the study (Mills, 2007). A self-efficacy test was administered before and
after the intervention to measure changes to attitudes of proficiency in different
skill areas in summary writing (See Appendix 4). The self-efficacy test designed
by the researcher was based on Chen et al.s (2001) New General Self-Efficacy
Scale. It consisted of eight items that were rated on a five-point scales with the
anchors strongly disagree and strongly agree. Students notebooks acted as a

portfolio to track their growth through the study.
The study did not entail the students giving any personal information;
therefore, the publication of student feedback does not invade privacy. In
addition, any student work displayed will be done anonymously. Some
limitations of the study are the relative small number of the sample. This cannot
be avoided as it is the actual class size. The study is short, and may only
provide information on student performance in summary writing for a specific
period, not competence over a period of time. In addition, the students
repeating CSEC English A examinations may have been exposed to the methods
to be taught in their previous school or class. Due to this and the size of the
sample, the results of the study may not be applicable to a wider group.
Target Group and Setting
The sample selected was from the Form Five level: Five Language (5L).
The teacher conducting the study had the role of Form Teacher, English A and
English B teacher. From the class register, report book and registration
information; the class consists of mixed ability students between the ages of
sixteen (16) to eighteen (18) years old. Students were streamed according to
academic ability in Form Three and then placed into classes in Form Four based
on subject choices. There were nineteen (19) students in total; seventeen (17)
formed the original cohort since Form Four and three (3) students were
repeating CSEC examinations, commonly termed Repeaters. The class
comprised of eighteen (18) girls and one (1) boy. Based on observations by the
teacher, the students displayed an aversion to summary writing exercises in
English A class, evidenced by an unwillingness to complete summary writing
exercises without the direct supervision and guidance of the teacher. The
complaints given include the exercise being too difficult, problems in identifying
the main ideas, problems paraphrasing information and the content being
abstract. This was the same for the students repeating CSEC examinations
despite having received instruction in summary writing before.
The intervention aimed to improve attitudes to summary writing by
developing skills that can be employed to produce better summaries, thereby
making the task easier and less intimidating to the students. Such skills would
result in improved grades which will enhance self-efficacy and results in school
and CSEC examinations.
Generally, summary writing was taught in the first term of Form Five, but
teachers have the latitude to introduce the topic towards the end of Form Four.
The students were very willing to cooperate with the teacher in class and are
motivated to participate in the study as they realise summary writing is an area
that they need to focus on.
Instruments and Materials
During the project, the teacher used graphic organisers, practice
exercises, modelling exercises, student questionnaires/journals and multimedia
presentations. The students were instructed as a whole class over a period of
three to four (3-4) cycles. The students were given direct instruction in
summary writing using GIST and Magnet Summary.
The first research question sought to determine whether the use of GIST
or Magnet Summary aided students in accurately identifying the main ideas and
supporting details in a passage, and combining them to produce a summary.

This information was collected through the administration of a Pre-test and Posttest for each strategy. Student performance in summary writing was compared
through the use of a Z-score. Questionnaires were also used at the end of each
period of direct instruction to ascertain student response to each strategy.
The second research question sought to determine whether the use of
GIST or Magnet Summary improved student self-efficacy at summary writing.
The open ended questions in the questionnaires would provide information
about student self-efficacy in the topic. A self-efficacy test was also
administered before and after the intervention. Below is an action research
triangulation matrix for the study:
Research
Question
1
Data Collection
Tools/Instruments
Method
Assessing
Pre-test and Post-test
Observing
Frequency of completion of tasks
Surveying
Surveying
Questionnaires
Questionnaire, Student Journal
Observing
Frequency of completion of tasks
Assessing
Self-efficacy Tests, Student journal
Figure1. Action Research Triangulation Matrix
The Pre-test and Post test scores will be compared and the mean, median
and mode calculated. The Z-score will also be calculated to see whether the
score was of a significant difference from the base score. This statistical
operation was used because the conversion of each test score to a sigma score
makes them equally weighted and comparable (Best & Kahn, 1998, p. 353). By
subtracting the mean from the raw score and dividing it by the standard
deviation the Z-score is achieved. If the score is equivalent or near to a past
assessment, it would mean that the performance was typical, showing no great
impact of the alternative strategies used. This will be done for both the GIST
and Magnet Summary. At the end of each strategy a questionnaire containing
both open ended and fixed responses will be given. The fixed responses will be
collated and the open ended questions will be coded to determine recurring
themes in the student responses. Coding for recurring themes will also be done
for a student journal that students will complete at the end of the intervention.
The scores on the Likert Scale of the self-efficacy test will be tabulated and the
mean, median and mode calculated. The scores before and after the
intervention will be compared to see if there were any changes in student
beliefs about their ability to complete the performance tasks mentioned in the
questions.
Unit of Lessons
(See Appendix 5. All audio-visual material for lessons can be found in the
accompanying disk)
Unit
1.
2.
3.
4.
Objectives
Identify the main ideas of a text using GIST and Magnet Summary.
Modify similar main ideas into a single coherent sentence.
Arrange the main ideas in a logical sequence.
Identify the appropriate transitional device to be used in given
sentences or paragraphs
5.
Write paraphrased sentences, keeping the original meaning.
6.
Rephrase sentences to reflect the main idea, without supporting
examples.
7.
Select redundancies to be omitted in a summary
8.
Select appropriate quantifiers to use in replacing statistics.
9.
Understand how the authors purpose affects the content of the text.
Lesson
number
Focus/Topic
and duration
Teaching Point
Introducing GIST The GIST method

2 Periodsinvolves breaking
80 minutes
up the text into
chunks and asking
the 5 Ws and
How. This
allows the main
ideas in the
passage to be
identified.
Applying GIST
1 Period40 minutes
The GIST method

involves breaking
up the text into
chunks and asking
the 5 Ws and
How. This
allows the main
ideas in the
passage to be
identified.
Introducing
Magnet
Summaries
2 Periods80 minutes
Magnet
Summaries
involves choosing
a key word that
attracts
Objectives
(Students will be able
to)
Assessment
1. Separate text into smaller

meaningful segments.
2. Identify the main idea by
asking the 5 Ws and
How.
3. Select key words to
create the jist of the
passage.
4. Present a plan of main
ideas to be used in
creating a summary.
1. Separate text into smaller
meaningful segments.
2. Identify the main idea by
asking the 5 Ws and
How.
3. Select key words to
create the jist of the
passage.
4. Formulate complete
sentences to be used in a
summary.
1. Identify the main ideas or
Magnet Words in a
passage.
2. Select supporting details
for a Magnet Word.
Teaching &
Learning Strategies
Resources
Students will complete

and present a graphic
organiser entailing a
topic sentence for each
segment of the
passage and a list of
words that will
comprise the jist of
the passage.
Listening and responding

Questioning
Writing
Group work
Speaking
http://www.engli
shdaily626.com/
summary.php?
036
Students will write

complete sentences of
the main idea of a
given passage to
produce a plan for
writing a summary.

Questioning
Writing
Group work
CSEC English A
Past Papers: P02
Section A-May
2007
Student will complete

a set of graphic
organiser flash cards
consisting of a
Magnet Word and its

Questioning
Writing
Group work
Speaking
A passage
adapted from:
http://jamaicagleaner.com/glea
ner/20140319/he
supporting details.
3. Arrange the supporting
details in order to create
a complete sentence from
the Magnet Word and
supporting details.
4. Orally present a plan of
main ideas to be used in
creating a summary.
Applying Magnet A Magnet
1. Identify the main ideas or
Summaries
Summary is
Magnet Words in a
1 Periodidentifying the
passage.
40 minutes
key term or
concept from the
for a Magnet Word.
passage and
3. Uses the Magnet Word
attracting the
and supporting details to
supporting details
create complete
of the term or
sentences for use in a
concept to create a
summary.
complete sentence
or sentences.
Combining main The main ideas
1. Identify the main ideas
ideas
can be linked
the passage.
2 Periodstogether when
80 minutes
referring to the
for the main ideas
same idea in the
chosen.
passage.
3. Select main ideas with
similar themes to create a
summary of the passage.
4. Arrange the main ideas
in a logical sequence.
supporting details.
alth/health1.html
This combines to
form the main
ideas of a passage.
Students will write

complete sentences of
the main idea of a
given passage to
produce a plan for
writing a summary.

Questioning
Writing
Group work
Speaking
CSEC English A
Past Papers: P02
Section A-May
2004
Students will identify

the main ideas of the
short story Shabine
and create a summary
with a fixed word
limit. Students will
assume the role of the
teacher and present the
summary while the
class listens to
determine if any of the
main ideas were

Questioning
Writing
Group work
Speaking
Role Play
Shabine by
Hazel SimmonsMcDonald
Transitional
Devices
1 Period40 minutes
Paraphrasing
2 Periods80 minutes
Omitting
Repetition
1 Period40 minutes
A transitional
device joins
different sentence
in a paragraph. It
indicates an
upcoming event,
supporting details
or introduces a
contrasting idea.
Paraphrasing is
rewriting a
sentence but
keeping the same
meaning.
1. Identify the different

transitional devices.
2. Select an appropriate
transitional device to be
used in given sentences
or paragraphs.
3. Write a paragraph using
appropriate transitional
devices.
1. Select appropriate
synonyms to use in
sentences.
2. Write paraphrased
sentences, keeping the
original meaning.
3. Create shorter equivalent
sentences.
4. Appreciate the use of
paraphrasing as a tool in
summarising and note
taking.
Repetition is when 1. Identify redundancies in

a passage.
the author restates
2.
Select redundancies to be
main ideas
omitted in a summary
throughout the
3. Rephrase sentences to
passage. In
reflect the main idea,
summary writing,
without repetition.
repetition is
removed, leaving
only the main
omitted.
Students will complete Writing
a worksheet
Teacher modelling
combining a series or
Pair work
related sentences
using transitional
devices learnt.
Game: Tell me
again-Students will
be divided into groups
and given a series of
sentences on the
board. Each group is
given 1.5 minutes to
orally paraphrase the
sentence. The group
with the most
sentences correctly
paraphrased will be
the winner.
Students will be given
sample sentences
which include the use
of examples from the
text. Students will
work in pairs to
rewrite the sentences
keeping the main idea
only.
http://faithpasila
n.blogspot.com/2
006/09/transition
al-device.html
Peer editing
Writing
Group work
Speaking
Games
Word lists
https://owl.englis
h.purdue.edu/ow
l/owlprint/930/
English for All:
Examination
Level (CSEC) by
Roy Narinesingh
and Bhadase
Seetahal-Maraj
Pair work
Writing
Editing
A
Comprehensive
English Course
by Uriel
Narinesingh and
Clifford
Narinesingh
http://www.engli
shdaily626.com/
summary.php?
idea.
024
Omitting
Statistical Data
and Examples
2 Periods-80
minutes
Statistics and
examples are used
to persuade the
reader of the
authors point of
view. In summary
writing, statistics
and examples are
omitted or
paraphrased.
1. Identify examples used in

expository writing.
2. Select examples to be
omitted in summary
writing.
3. Identify the use of
statistics in a passage.
4. Select appropriate
quantifiers to use in
replacing statistics.
10
Determining the
Writers
Intention
1 Period-40
minutes
The writers
intention is the
purpose is the
reason why the
text was written.
There are four
main purposes to
an authors
passage: to
persuade, to
inform, to
entertain and to
explain.
1. Identify the authors

purpose in text (to
persuade, to inform, to
entertain and to explain).
2. Differentiate the authors
purpose from persuasive
techniques used in the
text.
3. Understand how the
authors purpose affects
the content of the text.
A slide of a passage
will be displayed from
the projector. Class
will be divided in to
two groups: one will
identify the
redundancies and the
other statistical data.
Students will
individually rewrite
the passage omitting
statistical data and
repetition.
Teacher will place
questions on the
writers intention on
the board. Students
will read the passage
aloud and orally
respond to the
questions given,
explaining their
answers. Answers will
be noted in their
books.
Figure 2. Curriculum Study Unit Map
Group work
Editing
Writing
A
Comprehensive
English Course
by Uriel
Narinesingh and
Clifford
Narinesingh
CSEC English A
Past Papers: P02
Section A- Jan
2010
Think aloud
Questioning and
responding
Group work
CSEC English A
Past Papers: P02
Section A-Jan.
2013
GIST and Magnet Summary 26
Chapter 4
Findings
The study investigated the use of GIST and Magnet Summary in aiding
students in identifying main ideas and supporting details, and combining
them to produce a summary. It also investigated the effect of the teaching
strategies chosen on student self-efficacy. This chapter presents the findings
from the intervention and relates them to the research questions set out at
the beginning of the study.
Research question 1:
Will the use of GIST or Magnet Summary aid students in accurately
Pre-test and Post test
A Pre-test and Post-test was administered before and after instruction
of each of the teaching strategies. The results are presented below and the
mean, median, mode and standard deviation were calculated. (See Appendix
6 for samples of Pre-tests and Post-tests)
Student
AC
AF
CC
CA
CJ
DM
DT-J
GIST Method
Pre-Test
Post-Test
(30
(30
marks)
12
13
17
16
13
12
18
marks)
13
13
18
16
15
13
18
Magnet Summary
Student
Pre-Test
Post-Test
(30
(30
AC
AF
CC
CA
CJ
DM
DT-J
marks)
15
14
19
17
19
19
21
marks)
16
14
19
17
22
20
23
JB
JN
KM
KT
LR
ME
TL
TN
TJ
YC
Mean
Median
Mode
Standard
14
17
19
12
13
12
15
11
12
18
14.35294
13
12
0.75541
15
17
17
13
13
8
15
12
13
18
14.52941
13
13
0.76468
JB
JN
KM
KT
LR
ME
TL
TN
TJ
YC
17
22
20
15
16
14
18
14
14
18
19
25
24
16
16
13
18
15
15
18
17.17647
17
14
0.90402
18.23529
17
16
0.95975
Deviation
Pre-Test
(30
Post-Test
(30
Pre-Test
(30
Post-Test
(30
marks)
marks)
marks)
marks)
GIST Method
Magnet Summary
Figure 3. Table showing the Pre-test and Post-test scores on the sample for
the teaching strategies employed.
The mean score after the instruction in both GIST and Magnet
Summary increased. The mean score for GIST increased by 0.17647, on the
other hand, after instruction in Magnet Summary, the mean increased by a
larger amount: 1.05882. The modal score also increased after instruction in
both strategies. The GIST modal score increased by 1, from 12 to 13, while
the Magnet Summary modal score increased by 2, from 14 to 16. The
increase in assessment scores indicate that the students were able to
slightly improve their ability to identify the main ideas and supporting details
and combine to write a summary in both strategies. However, in light of the
maximum score being 30 marks, it is evident that the students need more
practice in summary writing to build on the improvements in performance

noted.
Z-Score
The Z-Score indicates if the students performance in an assessment
was typical or whether there was an improvement or decline. The table
below shows the scores for the Pre-tests and Post-tests:
Student
GIST Method (30 marks)

PreZPostZ-
Magnet Summary (30 marks)

PreZPostZ-
Test
Test
Score
Test
Score
Score
Test
Scor
e
AC
12
-3.11
13
-1.79
15
-2.41
16
-2.33
AF
13
-1.79
13
-1.79
14
-3.51
14
-4.41
CC
17
3.50
18
4.54
19
2.02
19
.80
CA
16
2.18
16
1.92
17
-0.20
17
-1.29
CJ
13
-1.79
15
0.62
19
2.02
22
3.92
DM
12
-3.11
13
-1.79
19
2.02
20
1.84
DT-J
18
4.83
18
4.54
21
4.23
23
4.96
JB
14
-0.47
15
0.62
17
-0.20
19
.80
JN
17
3.50
17
3.23
22
5.34
25
7.05
KM
19
6.15
17
3.23
20
3.12
24
6.01
KT
12
-3.11
13
-1.79
15
-2.41
16
-2.33
LR
13
-1.79
13
-1.79
16
-1.30
16
-2.33
ME
12
-3.11
8
-8.64
14
-3.51
13
-5.45
TL
15
0.86
15
0.62
18
0.91
18
-0.25
TN
11
-4.44
12
-3.31
14
-3.51
15
-3.37
TJ
12
-3.11
13
-1.79
14
-3.51
15
-3.37
YC
18
4.83
18
4.54
18
0.91
18
-0.25
Figure 4. Table showing Z-Sores of the Pre-test and Post-test of GIST and
Magnet Summary
By using a difference of +1 or -1 as the minimum range of positive or
negative change respectively, the Z-scores showed how the students
performed in the Post-test when compared to the Pre-test. In GIST, 47% of
the students showed an increase of 1 or more in the Z-scores, while 35%
showed an increase of less than 1. This indicates that for nearly half of the
sample, the performance in the Post-test can be considered an improvement.
It seems that most of the students were able to achieve greater competency
in the skill levels indicated in Research Question1. The Post-test Z-Scores in
Magnet Summary showed that 12 % of students increased their Z-Scores by
1 or more, while the majority showed little or no difference. Despite the
mean score in the Magnet Summary tests being higher, the scores in the
Post-test and Pre-test had close Z-scores. This indicates that the performance
was typical for the students and a small segment of the sample were able to
improve on the performance standards investigated using that strategy.
Research Question 2
Will the use of GIST or Magnet Summary improve student performance and
self-efficacy at summary writing?
Questionnaires
Questionnaires were distributed after the completion of lessons on
each strategy. The data consisted of closed and open ended questions. The
fixed response question responses are tabulated below and the open ended
responses were coded to determine recurring themes. (See Appendix 7 for
sample questionnaires).
12
10
8
Frequency
Very Well
Acceptable
Need More Work
Do Not Understand
2
0
GIST
Magnet Summary
Teaching Strategy
Figure 5. Column graph showing students self-perceived ability to identify

the main idea in a summary.
In the first question, students were asked whether they understood
how to identify the main idea after undergoing direct instruction in each
strategy. In GIST, 53 % of the students rated their ability as Acceptable, 32
% as Need more work and 15% as Do not understand. Regarding GIST, it
seems that the majority of students were able to attain the performance
standard of identifying the main idea; however a segment of the sample still
did not believe they grasped the concept. The Magnet Summary also had
53% of students indicating that their ability to identify the main idea was
Acceptable. However, no students indicated that they did not understand
and 32% considered their competence to be Very Well. The data indicates
that the majority of students met the performance standard for the topic
after the second strategy was taught. The majority of the students felt
capable of identifying the main idea in a passage. Another question asked

about the students understanding of the methods of instruction used. The
results are presented below:
Ye
So
N
Tea
ching Strategy
m
o
s
ew
Freqency
ha
t
Figure 6. Bar graph showing student perception of understanding teaching

strategies
53% of the respondents to the questionnaires distributed after direct
instruction in GIST stated that they understood the strategy. However, an
almost equal amount of 47% were not completely clear in understanding and
classified their level as Somewhat. As no students stated that they did not
understand GIST, it seems that the students had a good grasp of how to
utilise the strategy. The results are different for Magnet Summary as 16 %
stated that they understood the method. The vast majority of 84 % did not
completely grasp the idea of Magnet Summary despite having an improved
average performance in the Post-test. A possible explanation for this may be
that students utilised skills in summary writing learnt in earlier lessons when
trying to apply the Magnet Summary strategy, hence the performance in the
assessments would show an improvement.
The open ended questions in the questionnaires were coded and the
themes two main themes were identified: view of teaching strategy and its
helpfulness and views of summary writing. The table below summarises the
findings:
Theme
View of teaching
GIST
Most students liked the
Magnet Summary
There were mixed
strategy and its
method because it broke the
responses to the
helpfulness
passage into smaller parts.
intervention. As it was the
They were able to find the
second strategy employed
main idea quickly, however
students made
they found difficulty in
comparisons to GIST.
expanding the 5Ws and
There were mixed reviews
How into complete
with some preferring this
sentences. One wrote There
method while others
is a limited amount of words
preferring GIST. The step
so you must extend the
by step approach was
sentence using your own
again identified as a main
words. Students identified
factor is students positive
the main benefit of the
feelings towards the
strategy as identifying the
method, as one wrote Its
main idea through a step by
most effective. Its like a
step approach. A response
step by step process.
was My teacher gets me to
Another responded Using
understand because he
these steps is like putting
teaches step by step. Most
a puzzle together
indicated the method made

summary writing easier and
they were able to attain the
performance criteria for the
task as a student mentioned

It also helps stay in the
word limit and another I
like how it splits in up into
every part to get the gist of
Views on
it
There were mixed views on
The majority of students
summary writing
summary writing. While
indicated that they like
some said the strategy made
writing summaries. The
them now like the topic,
main reason given was
others maintained their
that the strategy made
dislike despite admitting that
writing easier.
the strategy was useful. A

student wrote It is kind of
hard for me sometimes to
write a summary maybe
because it has too many
words. While another
responded I now like writing
summaries using this
method because its less
stressful.
Figure 7.Table showing major themes from student feedback from
questionnaires
Most students indicated in the questionnaires that they benefitted from

both teaching strategies in the following ways, division of the text into
smaller parts, easier identification of main ideas, and step by step approach
allowing the writing of a summary that both has the relevant information and
is within the word limit.
Self-efficacy Tests
The same self-efficacy test was administered before and after the
intervention. The questions focussed on student self-efficacy regarding
competencies in summary writing. (See Appendix 8 for sample self-efficacy
tests). The results are tabulated below:
Question
1
Strongl
y
Disagre
Score on Likert Scale

4
2
3
Agree
Neutral
Disagre
or
e
Maybe
5
Strongl
y Agree
1. I find it easy to identify
Pr
Po
Pr
Po
Pr
Po
Pr
Po
Pr
Pos
e
0
st
0
e
0
st
0
e
11
st
6
e
6
st
13
e
2
t
0
10
the main ideas in the

passage and combine
them into complete
sentences.
2. It is hard for me to
decide what goes first,
second, third, and so on.
3. I can take sentences
from the passage and

rewrite them in my own
words.
4. I can identify and omit
10
10
10
10
examples, repetition and

statistical date when
writing a summary.
5. I can easily identify
the purpose of the
passage and intention of
the writer.
6. I am able to manage
my time effectively to
finish the question in the
given time.
7. I am able to stay
within the word limit of a
summary.
8. I can write a good
summary
Figure 8. Table showing student responses to a self-efficacy test administered
before and after the intervention.
The results showed a movement from the lower end of the Likert Scale,
which represented an inhibited feeling of self-efficacy by the student, to the
higher end of the scale in all questions. A significant improvement was seen
when students were asked about the ease in identifying the main ideas and
combining them into complete sentences, 32 % indicated a score of 4 or
Agree before the intervention which more than doubled to 68 % after.
Initially, 32 % of the sample felt that it was difficult to determine the order of
ideas in the passage, this dropped to 21 %. Before the intervention, 11 %
agreed that they could paraphrase sentences compared to 21 % after. At first

16 % agreed that they could identify and omit examples, statistics and
repetition, this more than doubled to 37 %. The self-efficacy rate did not
decline for any question; however it remained fairly constant when students
were asked about identifying the writers intention, time management and
their feeling about being able to write a good summary. Therefore, additional
lessons on these skills may be needed. Generally, the data shows an
increase in student self-efficacy in most performance standards in summary
writing.
Journals
Students were encouraged to write a single journal at the end of the
intervention about their learning experience (See Appendix 9 for sample
student journals). The responses were coded for recurring themes and two
were found: ability to write a summary and attitudes to the teaching
strategies. The results are summarised below:
Theme
Ability to write a summary
Feedback
Majority of students indicated that
they felt better able to write a
summary. One student stated it was
easier to understand the points of
the summary. While another said, I
feel better about writing summaries
and even look forward to doing
them. Some still believed it was
tricky and there was too much

Attitudes to the teaching strategies
main ideas to pull out

The strategies were seen as helpful,
with many indicating a preference for
a particular strategy. A student wrote,
I also think the new methods of
summary writing helped me to write
a summary better than before.
Students mentioned that the ability
to handle smaller pieces of text
allowed for an easier ordering of the
main ideas.
Figure 9. Table showing major themes from student feedback from student
journal
Students were of a consensus that the strategies taught did assist in
improving their competence in summary writing. Despite, some students still
harbouring negative feelings to the task, the vast majority believed the
teaching strategies were helpful.
Chapter 5
Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations
Discussion
Research Question 1: Will the use of GIST or Magnet Summary aid students
in accurately identifying the main ideas and supporting details in a passage,
and combining them to produce a summary?
From the increase in mean scores in the Post-tests of both GIST and
Magnet Summary, there is a good indication that students were able to
identify the main ideas and supporting details in and passage, and combine
them to produce a summary. This was also indicated by the Z-scores. It
should be noted a greater amount of students showed an increase in their Zscore in GIST than in Magnet Summary. In addition, the responses from the
questionnaire show that for both strategies, the majority of students
considered their ability to identify the main idea in a summary passage as
Acceptable.
The improvement seen agrees with Urquhart and McIvers (2005) view
that exposure to models of summary writing will improve student
competency and performance. The use of graphic organisers in GIST and
Magnet Summary enabled students to both self-edit and link the main ideas
to supporting details. The self-editing occurs when the students use the
graphic organisers to formulate sentences to use in the summary. The linking
of main ideas to supporting details occur when students ask the Five Ws
and How in GIST and attract the supporting details to the Magnet Word or
Magnet Phrase in Magnet Summary. These skills were mentioned by Frey et
al. (2003) and Buehl (2014) as skills necessary for summary writing. The
results show that the methods used by Cunningham (1982) and Buehl (2001
& 2014) are still relevant, effective and applicable to the contemporary
classroom
Research Question 2: Will the use of GIST or Magnet Summary improve
student self-efficacy at summary writing?
The open ended questions in the questionnaires showed that the
students responded positively to the teaching strategies. Students found that
the procedural approach in GIST and Magnet Summary aided them in
identifying the main ideas as the text could now be approached as
manageable pieces instead of an entire body. The journals echoed the same
sentiments and students indicated that they developed a preference for a
one strategy over the other. In addition they felt better able to write
summaries after the intervention. Student self-efficacy increased in the skill
area of identifying main ideas, ordering ideas, omitting repetition, example
as statistics, and paraphrasing sentences. However, the self-efficacy levels
remained fairly the same regarding identifying the writers intention, time
management and their feeling about being able to write a good summary.
Even though some admitted that their skill levels in some competencies in
summary writing improved, that still did not make any significant change in
attitude to summary writing.
The students being able to rate specific writing skills in the selfefficacy tests agrees with Pajares (2003) that it is an accurate way to
determine self-efficacy in writing. The data form the self-efficacy test
showed that students felt that they were more competent in restating or
paraphrasing text. This is of importance as it is a main indicator of
competence in summary writing. It is a feature of more competent writers
according to Brown et al. (1983). Cunningham (1982) considers it one of the
main benefits of GIST. In addition, the Caribbean Examinations Council
(2014) lists it as one of the critical areas in need of development at the CSEC
level.
Conclusion
This curriculum study indicates that the use of GIST and Magnet
Summary as modes of direct instruction of summary writing does enable
students to easily identify the main ideas and supporting details in a
passage, and combine them to produce a summary. In addition, using GIST
and Magnet Summary in the classroom has resulted in an increase in student
self-efficacy about summary writing and most of its specific competencies.
Constraints
Due to an electrical fire at the school, there was significant class time
lost due to early dismissal and student absenteeism due to the problems
with the water and electricity supply. Before the disruptions began, six of the
lessons were completed, the researcher sent notes to parents to send the
students out on specified days after final examinations and during the
vacation. The parents were supportive of the attempt to compensate for the
lost class time and the majority of students attended. The remaining lesson
was taught during these days. However, as there was not full attendance
less student journals were completed. In addition, it was observed that
students were reluctant to elaborate written responses in the open ended
questions in the questionnaires and in the journal.
Implications
The experience of conducting this curriculum study has enabled the
researcher to constantly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of
classroom pedagogy. The researcher has developed an appreciation of
regular student feedback, which is analysed to generate evidence for the
success of a classroom practice or the need to alter it. As an English teacher,
the use of journals and open ended questions were of particular interest as it
involves students writing their candid opinions when done anonymously or in
a non-judgmental environment. The study enabled the researcher to
positively affect the sample both in increased performance and self-efficacy
relating to summary writing. The lessons provided some new best practices
for other teachers to utilise in the school and evaluate its appropriateness for
their specific classes. Though the study is small, it has made a small
contribution to the body of data on teaching summary writing. It is hoped
that it serves as a catalyst for the researcher or other to conduct a larger
study over a longer period of time to ascertain more solid data.
Recommendations
After conducting the study, the following recommendations can be
made:
1. Teachers should be encouraged to utilise other strategies in teaching

summary writing besides the Rule-Based Strategy, especially strategies
that encourage students to analyse the text in a methodological way.
2. After instruction is a chosen strategy, gather student feedback to
ascertain the effectiveness of instruction. This will guide the lessons to
come as weaknesses can be addressed.
3. The teaching of summary writing should be done form an earlier time
in the CSEC level. Many lesson taught would have been more effective
more time was allocated to practice exercises. It was evident to the
researcher that the students required more practice in some lessons,
towards the end of the study.
4. The teacher must select passages that would interest the students in
the beginning of instruction and then move on to the abstract texts
used in the CSEC level. This makes the task of summary writing less
intimidating.
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Sense in Social Studies. Retrieved Sept. 29, 2014, from
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/readquest/strat/summarize.html.
Kirkland, M. R. & Saunders, M. P. (1991). Student performance in summary
writing: Managing
cognitive load. TESOL Quarterly, 25(1), 105-121.
Kothari, C. R. (2004). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques (2nd
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Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J. & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom Instruction
that works: Research- based strategies for increasing student achievement.
Alexandria, Virginia:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
Mills, G. E. (2007) Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (3rd
ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
Pajares, F. (2003). Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Motivation, and Achievement in
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Schunk, D. A. (1991). Self Efficacy and Academic Motivation. Educational
Psychologist, 26 (3
& 4), 207-231.
Rhoder, C. (2002). Mindful reading: Strategy training that facilitates transfer.
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45(6), 498-512.
Urquhart, V. & McIver, M. (2005). Teaching writing in the content areas.
Alexandria, Virginia:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
Zygouris-Coe, V., Wiggins, M. B. & Smith, L. H. (2005). Engaging students
with text: The 3-21 strategy. The Reading Teacher, 58(4), 381-384. doi:
10.1598/RT.58.4.8
Appendix 1
Pre-test and Post-test Rubric
Skill levels
19-24:
13-18:
Competent Approachi
ng
competenc
e
The
The
summary is summary is
a bit longer somewhat
or shorter
longer or
than the
shorter than
stated word the stated
limit. (4
word limit.
marks)
(3-2
marks)
Summa
ry
criteria
25-30:
Superior
Length
5
marks
The
summary is
within the
stated word
limit. (5
marks)
Form
5
marks
The
summary is
written in
paragraph
form
There are
few
mistakes in
grammar
and
punctuation
. (5 marks)
The
summary is
written in
paragraph
form
There are
several
mistakes in
grammar
and
punctuation
. (4 marks)
Conten
t
10
marks
Main idea of
the passage
is stated in
the first
sentence or
sentences.
The writer
uses only
essential
information
from the
Main idea of
the passage
is stated in
the middle
of the
summary.
The writer
uses mainly
essential
information
and some
7-12: Poor
0-6:
Unable to
summaris
e text
The
summary is
much longer
or shorter
than the
stated word
limit. (0-1
mark)
The
summary is
as long as
the original
passage or
too short.
(0 marks)
The
summary is
written in
paragraph
form
There are
many
mistakes in
grammar
and
punctuation
. (3 marks)
The
summary is
written in
note/bullet fo
rm
There are
several mist
akes in
grammar
and
punctuation.
(2 marks)
Main idea of
the passage
is stated at
the end of
the
summary
The writer
uses minor
details and
nonessential
Main idea of
the passage
is not stated
at all, it is
suggested or
implied. The
writer uses
personal
knowledge
and nonessential
The
summary is
written in
note/bullet
form
There
many
mistakes in
grammar
and
punctuatio
n. (0-1
mark)
The main
idea of the
passage is
not stated,
suggested
or implied
in the
summary.
The writer
uses
mainly
passage to
support the
main idea of
the
summary.
(8-10
marks)
Process The writer

5
uses his
marks own words
to write the
summary.
There is no
repetition,
examples or
statistical
data from
the
passage. (5
marks)
Meanin
g
5
marks
The writer
uses words
in the
summary
which have
the same
logical
sequence as
the
passage. (5
marks)
minor
details from
the passage
to support
the main
idea of the
summary
(6-7
marks)
The writer
uses some
words from
the passage
to write the
summary.
There is few
repetition,
examples or
statistical
data from
the
passage. (4
marks)
information
from the
passage to
support the
main idea of
the
summary.
(4-5
marks)
The writer
uses some
sentences
from the
passage to
write the
summary.
There is
some
repetition,
examples or
statistical
data from
the
passage. (3
marks)
details from
the passage
to support
the main
idea of the
summary.
(2-3 marks)
personal
information
to support
the main
idea of the
summary.
(0-1
mark)
The writer
uses
sections
(chunks)
from the
passage to
write the
summary.
There is
repetition,
examples or
statistical
data from
the passage.
(2 marks)
The writer
uses some
words in the
summary
which have
the same
logical
sequence as
the
passage. (4
marks)
The writer
uses words
in the
summary
which have
a similar
sequence as
the
passage. (3
marks)
The writer
uses words
in the
summary
which do not
have a
sequence
similar to the
passage. (2
marks)
The writer
copies the
whole
passage
for the
summary.
There is
much
repetition,
examples
or
statistical
data from
the
passage.
(0-1
mark)
The writer
uses words
in the
summary
which do
not show
any logical
sequence.
(0-1
mark)
Appendix 2
Student Questionnaire
Student Feedback on Learning Summary Writing: GIST
Instructions: The purpose of this questionnaire is to receive feedback on your
experiences doing summary writing this term. Please answer the following
questions honestly. Thank you for your feedback.
1. Do you understand how to identify the main idea in a summary?
Very Well
Understand
Acceptable
Need More Work
Do Not
2. Do you understand how to find the main ideas using the GIST Method?
Yes
No
Somewhat
Explain you answer.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
3. What do you like and dislike about the GIST Method of summary
writing?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Do you like or now like writing summaries using this method? Please
explain reasons for your answer.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Student Feedback on Learning Summary Writing: Magnet Summary

Instructions: The purpose of this questionnaire is to receive feedback on your
experiences doing summary writing this term. Please answer the following
questions honestly. Thank you for your feedback.
1. Do you understand how to identify the main idea in a summary?
Very Well
Understand
Acceptable
Need More Work
Do Not
2. Do you understand how to find the main ideas using Magnet

Summary?
Yes
No
Somewhat
Explain you answer.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What do you like and dislike about the Magnet Summary method of
summary writing?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Do you like or now like writing summaries using this method? Please
explain reasons for your answer.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Appendix 3
Student Journal
Name: _____________________
Journal
Write a short journal on your feelings about what we did in summary writing.
Use the following guides to help in your response:
Do you prefer GIST or Magnet Summary? Why?

Have the new methods of summary writing helped you in any way?
Do you now feel better able to write a summary? Why?
Was your teacher helpful in learning about these new methods? How?
Anything else about summary writing this term that you want to say.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Appendix 4
Student Self-Efficacy Test
Summary Writing
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral or Maybe
Agree
Strongly agree
Directions: Answer the following questions based on how you feel about your writing on this topic.
1. I find it easy to identify the main ideas in the passage and

combine them into complete sentences.
2. It is hard for me to decide what goes first, second, third, and

so on.
3. I can take sentences from the passage and rewrite them in

my own words.
4. I can identify and omit examples, repetition and statistical

date when writing a summary.
5. I can easily identify the purpose of the passage and intention

of the writer.
6. I am able to manage my time effectively to finish the

question in the given time.
7. I am able to stay within the word limit of a summary
8. I can write a good summary
Appendix 5
Unit of Lessons
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES, ST. AUGUSTINE
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH LESSON PLAN
TEACHER: Hassan Basarally
CLASS:
5L
ESTIMATED DURATION: 2 periods- 80 minutes

DATE: 21/01/2015
THEME/TOPIC:
Summary Writing- Introducing Generating Interactions
between Schemata and Text (GIST)
CURRICULUM STANDARD: Identify main and subordinate ideas and trace
their development
TEACHING POINT: The GIST method involves breaking up the text
into chunks and asking the 5 Ws and How. This allows the main
ideas in the passage to be identified.
PURPOSE / RATIONALE: Summary writing is a skill that is not only tested
on the curriculum but has many real world applications. Many students will
have to utilise this skill in report writing in the world of work. Many students
have difficulty approaching a passage because its content is something they
may not be familiar with. Therefore, it is very important to teach students
effective ways to elicit the main ideas in a passage, as this is the first step in
writing a summary.
PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE / PERFORMANCE:
main ideas
ANTICIPATED DIFFICULTY:
the passage
Reading comprehension,
Difficulty in the technical jargon used in
TECHNOLOGIES AND RESEARCH RESOURCES:
White board, markers,

Copies of 20 word GIST Template
Passage adapted from: http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,204772.html
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/gistsummarizing-strategy-content-290.html
INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
(CLASSIFICATION)
ASSESSMENT
Students will / should be able to:
Formative:
5. Separate text into smaller meaningful

segments. (cognitive)
6. Identify the main idea by asking the 5
Ws and How. (cognitive)
7. Select key words to create the Gist of
the passage. (cognitive)
8. Presents a plan of main ideas to be used
in creating a summary. (affective)
Students will divide the passage

into smaller parts by drawing
lines separating the text.
Students will complete the 20
word GIST Template.
Summative:
Students will orally present the
main ideas of the text in
complete sentences.
PROCEDURE
SET INDUCTION: The teacher will write the sentence After talking
to Shania, I found out the gist of what went on the class I missed.
Students will be asked what they think the work gist means.
When the correct meaning is arrived at, the teacher will tell them
that there is a way to identifying the main ideas in summary
writing called the GIST Method.
TEACHING
STRATEGIES/METHODS/ACTIVITIES
LEARNING
STRATEGIES/ACTIVITIES
1. Teacher will list the steps of the GIST

Method.
2. Students will be given a passage
entitled Alcohol: The Most Common
Date Rape Drug which they will read
individually.
3. Students will be asked to give some
information from the passage that
they found interesting.
4. Students will read the passage aloud
5. Students will be asked the divide the
text into sections that have similar
information.
6. Students will be asked to formulate
questions that they would ask to
determine if someone understood the
passage if they were giving a
presentation on the topic. The teacher
will point out that these questions
entail the 5 Ws and How.
7. Students will be given a copy of the
20 word GIST Template for each of
the sections made earlier in the
lesson.
8. Students will be grouped, one each
section identified.
9. The teacher will model how to
complete the graphic organiser given.
10.
Each group will present their 20
word GIST Template to the class,
providing a sentence of no more than
20 words summarising the section
assigned to them.
11.
Teacher writes each groups
sentence to make a summary plan of
the passage for all students write in
their notebooks.
Listening
Individual reading
Questioning/Responding
Reading
Responding
Role play/Responding
Group work
Modelling
Speaking/ Peer evaluation
Drafting/ Note taking
CLOSURE: The teacher will ask students to remind the class of how to use
the GIST Method and how to complete the graphic.
LESSON EVALUATION: Students will be given graphic organisers to

complete for the sections that they were not assigned. The students
will keep the graphic organisers and submit their individual
summary plans for the teacher to assess.
CONTINGENCY PLAN: Graphic organiser can be drawn on the board

if copies are unavailable.
TEACHERS EVALUATION OF THE LESSON: The students grasped quickly

the 5 Ws and Who to be used in GIST. They required assistance in dividing
the passage into smaller segments for analysis. The graphic organiser helped
in formulating complete sentences to be used in a summary.
SUPERVISORS COMMENTS:
20 Word GIST Template

1. Fill out the 5Ws and H.
Who:
What:
Where:
When:
Why:
How:
2. Write a 20-word GIST.
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
Alcohol: The Most Common Date Rape Drug

By CAROL MATROO , adapted from Newsday Saturday, December 27 2014
Recently, as he piloted legislation to enable the State to regulate the use of certain classes of
chemicals, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan noted a trend of chemicals being used to drug
young victims. It is something that is done in the prestigious areas and communities, in high
society parties and so on, where you have all manner of drugs being laid out and the age of
children that are using it keeps getting lower and lower, the Attorney General had said.
But, according to secretary of the Association of Psychiatrists of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Varma
Deyalsingh, alcohol was the most common date rape drug. Now, my perspective from the
Psychiatric Association is yes, you have the Rohypnol (roofie) and Ketadine, but these are only
responsible for about two to four percent of the date rapes. Sixty to 70 per cent of date rapes is
due to alcohol. If you want to look at the whole idea of date rape we should not be focusing on
that minority, Deyalsingh said.
Rohypnol is the trade name for the medication flunitrazepam. It is a benzodiazepine with similar
effects to Valium, however it is 10 times more potent. Rohypinol is a central nervous system
depressant that is prescribed outside the United States for the short term treatment of severe sleep
disorders. It is manufactured by Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc. and widely available in Europe, Mexico,
and Colombia. The manufacture and sale of Rohypnol is illegal in the United States.
As a society we need to go behind the bigger picture, the one that is causing the greater damage
which is alcohol. We have to look at the alcohol use among these girls and educate them, he
said. He said many people would choose to use alcohol to drug a girl because next day they
could always lay the blame on her saying she was drunk and she asked for sex. Or, she may
blame herself and admitting she had too much to drink so I looked for it.
Deyalsingh noted that most date rapes occurred not with strangers, but with someone the victim
knew. There was a cousin who would rape his cousin after she came over after spiking her
drink. Or, it may not be the person you are with, but sometimes friends may carry you to a party
and other people there may commit the act.
Now, we may ask why would someone want to commit such an act. They want to have
something with somebody they dont think they will get through with, or have sex with
somebody and they dont want her to know. They may want to have sex with someone, but
society would not agree, so they drug them. It is taboo sex, he said.
It is not just about somebody wanting to have sex with a family member or a boy on a kicks
scene where they get a girl drunk and they have sex with her. This is like a crime of opportunity,
she is there for the taking, he said.
Deyalsingh said there was a risk in administering these drugs to unsuspecting people, especially
if mixed with alcohol. This could cause the central nervous system to seize up and the person
could have respiratory arrest and die.
He warned that a woman must have someone who she can trust to look out for her when she goes
out. She must also be able to call a central rape line and get to a doctor since these drugs are
flushed out of the system within 12 to 72 hours
Women are advised against accepting drinks from others and not sharing drinks. They must be
vigilant in watching their drink, and having a non-drinking friend with them to make sure
nothing happens.

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH LESSON PLAN
CLASS:
5L
ESTIMATED DURATION: 1 period- 40 minutes

DATE: 22/01/2015
THEME/TOPIC:
Summary Writingbetween Schemata and Text (GIST)
Applying
Generating
Interactions

their development
TEACHING POINT: The GIST method involves breaking up the text
into chunks and asking the 5 Ws and How. This allows the main
ideas in the passage to be identified.
writing a summary. The GIST method involves breaking up the text into
chunks and asking the 5 Ws and How. This allows the main ideas in the
passage to be identified.
main ideas
the passage
Difficulty in the technical jargon used in

Copies of Combined GIST Template
Passage adapted from http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/AP--Skinbleaching-a-growing-problem-in-Jamaica
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/gistsummarizing-strategy-content-290.html
ASSESSMENT
(CLASSIFICATION)
Formative:
9. Separate text into smaller meaningful

segments. (cognitive)
10. Identify the main idea by asking the 5
Ws and How. (cognitive)
11. Select key words to create the Gist
of the passage. (cognitive)
12. Formulate complete sentences to be
used in a summary. (cognitive)
Students will divide the passage

into smaller parts by drawing
lines separating the text.
Students will complete the
Combined GIST Template.
Summative:
Students will formulate the
complete sentences. Students
will then write a complete
summary to be marked with a
prepared rubric.
PROCEDURE
SET INDUCTION: The teacher writes the 5 Ws and How on the
board and asks students to explain how these words help in
summary writing.
TEACHING
12.
Teacher will list the steps of the
GIST Method and draw their attention
to the chart prepared for the class
13.
Students will be given a passage
entitled Cassava which they will read
individually.
14.
The teacher will draw the
Combined GIST Template on the
board
15.
Students will be asked fill in the
template as a class.
16.
Teacher will use responses to
formulate some sentences to be used
in a summary.
17.
Students will be asked to work
in pairs to create the other sentences
needed to complete a skeleton of the
summary.
18.
Some students will be asked to
present their sentences and the class
asked whether they missed out any
supporting details of the main idea.
19.
Students will be asked to
individually complete the Combined
GIST Template and draft topic
sentences for a summary.
20.
Teacher reviews students
notebooks
LEARNING
Listening
Questioning/Responding
Modelling
Pair work/Writing/Responding
Peer evaluation/Responding
Drafting/Editing
CLOSURE: The teacher will complete the Combined GIST Template on the
board and ask students to volunteer to write the steps of the GIST method on
the board
LESSON EVALUATION: Students will use the Combined GIST

Template to write a complete summary of the passage at home.
This will be returned to the teacher and scored based on a prepared
rubric.
CONTINGENCY PLAN: Graphic organiser can be drawn on the board

if copies are not available.
TEACHERS EVALUATION OF THE LESSON: The students are fond of the

20 word GIST Template and had initial difficulty in understanding the
Combined GIST Template. Students found the choice of passage a motivator
in attempting the exercises.
Questio
n
Who
What
When
Where
Why
How
Section 1:
Section2:
Section 3:

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH LESSON PLAN
CLASS:
5L
ESTIMATED DURATION: 2 Periods-80 minutes

DATE: 03/02/2015
THEME/TOPIC: Summary Writing-Introducing Magnet Summaries
their development.
TEACHING POINT: A Magnet Summary is identifying the key term or
concept from the passage and attracting the supporting details of
the term or concept to create a complete sentence or sentences.
writing a summary.
main ideas
Identification of Magnet
vocabulary of technical jargon used in the passage
Words,

Copies of Magnet Summary Template
Passage adapted from: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/10-to-16-yearsold/6-articles/43-facebook-myspace-twitter-good-or-bad-for-kids-brain
http://northiowareading.wikispaces.com/Magnet+Summaries
https://manleyliteracy.wikispaces.com/Comprehension+Strategies
(CLASSIFICATION)
ASSESSMENT
Formative:
13. Identify the main ideas or Magnet

Words in a passage. (cognitive)
14. Select supporting details for a
Magnet Word. (cognitive)
15. Arrange the supporting details in
order to create a complete sentence
from the Magnet Word and supporting
details. (cognitive)
16. Orally present a plan of main ideas to
be used in creating a summary.
(affective)
Students identify the Magnet

Words in a passage and its
supporting details Students will
complete the Magnet Summary
Template.
Summative:
Students will orally present the
complete sentences.
PROCEDURE
SET INDUCTION: Teacher writes the word Magnet Summary on
the board and asks for five volunteers. Five magnets are placed on
a desk. One student is given a magnet labelled Magnet Word and
told to attract any of the other magnets from the desk and read
the label of the magnet (Supporting Detail). Each of the other
volunteers is told to do the same.
TEACHING
1. The teacher asks the students to
formulate a definition for Magnet
Summary based on what they saw in
the set induction.
2. The teacher writes the definition on
the board, editing where necessary.
3. Students are asked to think back to
the set induction and work in pairs to
list what they think will be the steps to
be taken in the method of Magnet
Summaries.
4. Pairs are to orally present their steps.
5. Teacher lists the steps given by the
students on the board and highlights
to most suitable ones.
6. Students read the passage
individually.
7. Students are placed into groups to
identify the Magnet Words in the
passage. Students must also justify
their selection.
8. The teacher selects the most suitable
Magnet Words and distributes the
Magnet Summary Template.
9. The teacher completes a Magnet
Summary Template as an example.
10.
Students continue to work in
groups to complete the graphic
organiser filling in the supporting
details.
11.
Students individually write a
summary sentence for each Magnet
LEARNING
Listening/Responding
Note taking
Listening/Speaking
Individual reading
Group work/Peer evaluation
Modelling
Group work
Writing/Editing
Word for the passage.
CLOSURE: The teacher recaps the steps in Magnet Summaries and selects
the student with the best summary sentence for each Magnet Word to write
his/her response on the board.
LESSON EVALUATION: Students will attach the graphic organiser in
their notebooks which the teacher will collect to determine whether
the supporting details were relevant to the Magnet Word and if the
summary sentence/s contained the main idea and supporting detail.
CONTINGENCY PLAN: A passage from any other content area can be

used in the lesson. The set induction can be drawn on the board.
TEACHERS EVALUATION OF THE LESSON: Students liked the graphic

organiser but found that completing a separate one for each Magnet Word or
Magnet Phrase was tedious. Identifying the Magnet Word or Magnet Phrase
required synthesis of the general meaning of the text and took some time.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networking sites are a godsend
to kids and teens who want to get in touch and know what is going on with
their friends or relatives. By just opening a website, they can communicate
with and learn about all the people who are important to them (at least those
who are signed in to the same network).
The one common bad effect of social media is addiction - the constant
checking of Facebook, Twitter, or other social media updates. When
technology abusers check their device very often it triggers the addictionoriented parts of their brains. For kids and teens, this addiction could disrupt
other worthwhile activities like concentrating in schoolwork, reading or
engaging in sports. Baroness Susan Greenfield, a top neuroscientist of the
Oxford University warns about the lifelong effects of too much social
networking. Social networking sites make kids more self-centred.
Since
Facebook and other sites give kids their own page which is about them, it
leads some vulnerable kids to think that everything revolves around them, a
precursor for emotional problems in their later life. This might also result in
inability to empathize.
Social networks are fertile grounds for bad
influencers and anonymous venoms and hunting grounds for deviants and
other predators. For kids who crave attention, Facebook and other social
network becomes a venue for them to act out. These kids may make
inappropriate statements, pictures and videos that could ultimately harm
them. Also, posts and materials that are published online tend to be
permanent and may haunt them in the future.
On the other hand, other experts like the MacArthur Foundation see it
differently.
They claim that kids and teens are developing important
technical and social skills online in ways that adults do not understand or
value. Social networking makes kids more peer-based. Young people are
motivated to learn from their peers online.
They interact and receive
feedback from one another. They are motivated to learn more from each
other than from adults. Teachers and adults are no longer the only sources
of knowledge. Social networks actually make kids more relationship-oriented,
considerate, and emphatic.
Kids remember peoples birthday and greet
them. They comment on pictures, videos and status of their friends. They
create longer term friendships by being in touch online even when friends
are no longer physically meeting.
How can parents make the most of social media? Tell your kid to spend more
time in real-life friendships and activities - Real face-to-face interaction is
deeper and warmer than online friendships. Your kid learns more social skills
in relating to and having face-to-face communication with his friends. Online
friendships does not teach your kid to listen to subtle vocal cues, interpret
body language, and adapt to different personalities - skills that are often
important to survive in the real world. Encourage your child's other passion
or interest - Instead of constantly telling your kid to stop going online,
discover his other interests and nurture them. Examples of these are sports,
playing a musical instrument, writing, crafts, etc. Support him when he is
engaged on non-online activities that he is passionate about. And if possible,

supervise your kids online activity to protect him from online predators and
other dangers - Do not be deceived that your kid is online because of school
research and studying. You should be constantly aware of what your kid does
online or what he does in front of the computer.
__________________
Magnet Word/Phrase
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Summary Sentence

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH LESSON PLAN
CLASS:
5L
ESTIMATED DURATION: 1 Period-40 minutes

DATE: 10/02/2015
THEME/TOPIC: Summary Writing-Applying Magnet Summaries
their development.
TEACHING POINT: A Magnet Summary is identifying the key term or
concept from the passage and attracting the supporting details of
the term or concept to create a complete sentence or sentences.
writing a summary.
main ideas
Identification of Magnet
vocabulary of technical jargon used in the passage

Copies of Magnet Summary Template
Copies of CSEC past paper: P02 May 2004
Words,
(CLASSIFICATION)
ASSESSMENT
Formative:
17. Identify the main ideas or Magnet

Words in a passage. (cognitive)
18. Select supporting details for a
Magnet Word. (cognitive)
19. Uses the Magnet Word and
supporting details to create complete
sentences for use in a summary.
(cognitive/affective)
Students identify the Magnet

Words in a passage and its
supporting details Students will
Template.
Summative:
Students will individually write a
summary of the passage
Migration from English A P02
May 2004.
PROCEDURE
SET INDUCTION: Teacher draws a Magnet Summary Template and
uses the word Migration as the Magnet Word. Four students are
asked to come to the board and fill in a supporting detail they
would expect to read in a piece of writing on that topic.
TEACHING
12.
The teacher asks the students
to formulate a list of steps in Magnet
Summaries and writes it on the
board.
13.
The teacher asks students to
work in pairs and orally give one
sentence on anything they know
about Migration.
14.
The teacher distributes copies of
the hand out Migration and assigns
four student to each read one
paragraph of the passage.
15.
The class is divided into four
groups and each assigned a
paragraph form the passage to
Template.
16.
Each group selects one member
to draw their completed Magnet
Summary Template on the board.
17.
The other three groups are
asked whether they can use the
information provided in a summary.
18.
The other group completes 5-6.
19.
The class copies the Magnet
Summary Template for each
paragraph.
LEARNING
Note taking
Round Robin Reading
Group work
Listening/Speaking
Peer evaluation/Jigsaw
CLOSURE: The teacher uses a supporting detail from one of the paragraphs
to formulate a complete sentence that can be used in a summary. One
member from each group is asked to do the same.
LESSON EVALUATION: Students will re-read the passage at home and

write a summary to be marked according to the rubric provided.
CONTINGENCY PLAN:
The passage and graphic organiser was
scanned and can be shown on a laptop or projector.
TEACHERS EVALUATION OF THE LESSON: The students are identifying

the main ideas and supporting details with greater accuracy. Responses have
most of the important information but work is still needed in expression.

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH LESSON PLAN
CLASS:
5L

DATE: 23/02/2015
THEME/TOPIC: Summary Writing-Combining main ideas.
their development- Structure seen through sequence of topics of individual
paragraphs. Themes of longer works.
TEACHING POINT: The main ideas can be linked together when
referring to the same idea in the passage.
PURPOSE / RATIONALE: When students identify the main ideas in a
passage, they will notice that several main ideas are related to the same
point in the expository piece. By linking these main ideas according to
theme, students are able to combine repeated ideas and identify the
relationships between them e.g. comparison and contrast, cause and effect.
identifying main ideas
ANTICIPATED DIFFICULTY: Students may repeat main ideas that are

worded differently and unable to identify themes that link different
ideas in a passage.
White board, markers

Copies of Shabine by Hazel Simmons- Mc Donald
Computer, projector, speakers
Copies Short Story Summary Chart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Jv5DFQW4M
(CLASSIFICATION)
ASSESSMENT
Formative:
20. Identify the main ideas the passage.

(cognitive)
21. Select supporting details for the main
ideas chosen. (cognitive)
22. Selects main ideas with similar
themes to create a summary of the
passage (affective)
23. Arrange the main ideas in a logical
sequence. (cognitive)
Students will group

Summative:
Students will write a summary
of the story Shabine by Hazel
Simmons- Mc Donald, paying
attention to the main events
and their relation to the themes
of the story.
PROCEDURE
SET INDUCTION: Students are shown a trailer for the movie 12
Years a Slave. They are asked to take note of the events in the
movie that are mentioned in the trailer. Students are asked how is
a movie trailer similar to a summary.
TEACHING
20.
The teacher divides the story
into 6 sections and assigns a student

to read each part.
21.
While reading students are
LEARNING
Round Robin
Note taking
Group work/Reading
asked to underline in their texts the

important parts of the plot.
22.
The class is divided into 3
groups and tasked with identifying the
main events in an assigned section of
Listening/Speaking
Jigsaw
Modelling
the story.
23.
Each group is given copies of
the Short Story Summary Chart to
complete.
24.
Each group sends one student
to the board to write their findings.
25.
The teacher uses the findings to
formulate some sample sentences for
the students to use to start their
individual summary of the story.
26.
Students write a summary of
the story Shabine.
Writing/Editing
CLOSURE: The teacher asks one person from each group to read their
completed summary of the story Shabine for the class.
LESSON EVALUATION: The student summaries will be collected and
assessed based on the prepared rubric.
CONTINGENCY PLAN: Students can be asked to tell the class about

their favourite movie/novel/book instead of being shown a movie
trailer.
TEACHERS EVALUATION OF THE LESSON: Students appreciated the

ability to use the summary writing techniques taught to summarise text from
form of the content areas (English B). Many said they would do this exercise
for other texts and other subjects.
Short Story Summary Chart

Instructions: Fill in the information in the table below from the part of the
story Shabine you were given by your teacher.
Main Events
Issue/Theme

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH LESSON PLAN
CLASS:
5L
ESTIMATED DURATION: 2 periods: 80 minutes

DATE: 23/02/2015
THEME/TOPIC: Transitional Devices
CURRICULUM
STANDARD:
Expression-Grammar
and
MechanicsParagraphing: logical division of continuous writing into coherent paragraphs.
TEACHING POINT: A transitional device joins different sentence in a
paragraph. It indicates an upcoming event, supporting details or
introduces a contrasting idea.
PURPOSE / RATIONALE: The summary is to be written in continuous prose.
Often students string together main ideas, resulting in an incoherent and
disjointed paragraph. The effective and appropriate use of transitional
devices in writing allows the reader to see the links between ideas, the
introduction of a new event or idea and the relationship between different
ideas in the paragraph.
main ideas
Identifying and combining
ANTICIPATED DIFFICULTY: There are several types of transitional

devices, students may limit themselves to a few that may link ideas
but not necessarily show relationships
Laptop, projector, markers
Copies of assessment exercise Studying
http://write-site.athabascau.ca/transitional-devices.php
(CLASSIFICATION)
ASSESSMENT
Formative:
4. Identify the different transitional devices.

(cognitive)
Students will orally create

sentences with the six types of
transitional devices.
5. Select an appropriate transitional device

to be used in given sentences or
paragraphs. (cognitive)
6. Write a paragraph using appropriate
transitional devices. (cognitive)
PROCEDURE
Summative:
Students will insert appropriate
transitional devices into a given
passage entitled Studying.
SET INDUCTION: Teacher shows a short video of famous bridges

across the world and asks the students to think of two things that
bridges do. Teacher sentences that are related sometime need to
be connected and transitional devices are the bridges used to
achieve this.
TEACHING
1. The teacher shows the passage
Studying to the students that is
missing transitional devices and asks
students whether they think it is well
written and what do they think it
needs.
2. Teacher brings up the first type of
transitional device, explains and
provides examples.
3. Class is divided into groups and each
is tasked with orally providing a
sentence using the transitional device.
4. This is done for each type of
transitional device.
5. Teacher shows the students the
passage Studying again and inserts
suitable transitional devices in the
first three sentences.
6. Students are given copies of the
passage Studying and instructed to
individually edit it by inserting
appropriate transitional devices.
LEARNING
Questioning and responding
Listening
Modelling
Group work
Speaking
Modelling
Writing/Editing
CLOSURE: The teacher gives each of the groups formed a piece of paper
with a different transitional device. Each group is to orally give an example of
a sentence using an example of the given type of transitional device.
LESSON EVALUATION: Completed copies of the passage Studying

will be collected and read by the teacher.
CONTINGENCY PLAN: A picture of a bridge could be used in the set

induction. The lesson could be taught through writing notes on the
board instead of using a PowerPoint presentation.
TEACHERS EVALUATION OF THE LESSON: Students seem to be new at

editing text, the application of the topic to argumentative writing pointed out
by the teacher made them more aware of the importance of editing.
Students had some difficulty in providing oral examples of transitional
devices in sentences and used inappropriate transitional devices in some
cases.
Instructions: Choose appropriate transitional devices to insert in the

paragraph below.
Studying
There are many successful ways of studying. People cram the night before.
People study over the school term. Cramming is not a successful way of
studying. You will forget what was learnt easily. It is not absorbed in the
brain. It stresses out the student. Successful students study throughout the
term. They make notes after class. They make diagrams. They look at videos
about topics. They relax in between. This allows a calm feeling for the
student. It makes them feel that everything is not happening at once.
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH LESSON PLAN
CLASS:
5L
ESTIMATED DURATION: 2 Periods: 80 minutes

DATE: 31/03/2015
THEME/TOPIC: Summary Writing-Paraphrasing
CURRICULUM STANDARD: Extract specific information from what is said or
heard.
TEACHING POINT: Paraphrasing is rewriting a sentence but keeping
the same meaning.
PURPOSE / RATIONALE: Summary writing involves the rewriting of many
of the sentences while maintaining the authors intended meaning. This skill
is important as students will be able to condense longer sentences into
shorter ones that mean the same. In addition, additional marks are awarded
to students who paraphrase from the extract as opposed to lifting entire
phrases.
PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE / PERFORMANCE: identification of main ideas
ANTICIPATED DIFFICULTY: Students may not have the vocabulary
stock to substitute words when paraphrasing. Students may make
grammatical errors or use the incorrect derivation of a word when
paraphrasing. This skill is also useful in identifying equivalent
sentences in multiple choice exercises.
Whiteboard, markers
Copies of Paraphrasing Worksheet
Copies of Equivalent Sentences Worksheet
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/930/
English for All: Examination Level (CSEC) by Roy Narinesingh and
Bhadase Seetahal-Maraj
A Comprehensive English Course by Uriel Narinesingh and Clifford
Narinesingh
(CLASSIFICATION)
ASSESSMENT
Formative
5. Select appropriate synonyms to use in

sentences. (cognitive)
6. Write paraphrased sentences, keeping
the original meaning. (cognitive)
7. Create shorter equivalent sentences.
(cognitive)
8. Appreciate the use of paraphrasing as a
tool in summarising and note taking.
(affective)
Students will orally paraphrase

sentences given by teacher and
other students.
Summative
Paraphrasing Worksheet.
PROCEDURE
SET INDUCTION: Teacher instructs the students to pay very close
attention to what is going to be said. The teacher in no more than
5 sentences described what he/she did before the class. The
students are asked to write what the teacher did before class in
their books. The teacher reads some responses and points out that
instead of writing exactly what was said the students gave the
information and that is called paraphrasing.
TEACHING
1. The teacher asks the students to think
about the set induction and formulate
some steps that could be taken in
paraphrased.
2. The teacher after listening to the
students places three rules on the
board: 1. Read the sentence carefully,
2. Replace words with synonyms and
3. Re read to make sure the meaning
is the same.
3. The teacher writes a sentence on the
board and demonstrates under it how
to paraphrase it.
4. The teacher distributes Equivalent
Sentences Worksheet and asks the
class to select the sentence that is
closest to the original and give justify
their answer.
5. The teacher selects individual
students and asks them to paraphrase
a sentence given.
6. Teacher then asks students to
paraphrase in writing 3 sentences
provided.
7. Students are asked to exchange books
and peers are asked to determine if
the meaning remains the same in the
responses given to them.
8. Students are divided into groups of 5
and the game: Tell me again is
LEARNING
Thinking and responding
Modelling
Speaking/ Thinking and
responding
Speaking
Writing
Peer Editing/ Peer Review
Group work/Game/Speaking
Writing
played. Students are given a series of

sentences on the board. Each group is
given 1 minute to orally paraphrase
the sentence. The group with the most
sentences correctly paraphrased will
be the winner.
9. Students are given three sentences to
paraphrase in writing for the teacher
to review.
CLOSURE: Three students are randomly selected from the class and asked
to each give one of the steps in paraphrasing.
LESSON EVALUATION: The Paraphrasing Worksheet will be

distributed and collected in the following class for review and
assessment by the teacher.
CONTINGENCY PLAN: The worksheet for assessment can be written

on the board for students to write down.
TEACHERS EVALUATION OF THE LESSON: Students found the tasks

manageable. They realised how the skill of paraphrasing can be applied to
summary writing and equivalent sentences.
Paraphrasing Worksheet
Section 1
Paraphrase the following sentences in the space given.
1. The new law governing landowners and tenants is designed not only to
relieve tenants but to stop the greedy exploitation now practiced by
the landowners.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. I was warned to use the appliance carefully in order to prevent damage
and I did as I was told.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Money spent on the construction of new schools is an investment
which will benefit the entire country.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Although we spoke to him about being responsible and keen in his job,
he ignored our advice.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. He told me that his chance for admission to university did not appear
to be bright.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH LESSON PLAN
CLASS: 5L
ESTIMATED DURATION: 1 Period: 40 minutes
DATE: 01/04/2015
THEME/TOPIC: Summary Writing-Omitting Repetition
CURRICULUM STANDARD: extract specific information from what is read or
heard;
TEACHING POINT: Repetition is when the author restates main ideas
throughout the passage. In summary writing, repetition is removed,
leaving only the main idea.
PURPOSE / RATIONALE: The author repeats key points throughout the text
to keep the reader focussed on the message to be given. In summary
writing, the student is required to recognise the repeated ideas and not
simply restate them. Understanding of how repetition works also aids in
argumentative writing as it is a persuasive strategy as well. Identifying and
omitting repetition is also useful in multiple choice questions where students
are asked to determine if a sentence contains redundancies or is too wordy.
paraphrasing
identifying main ideas,
Students may interpret repetition as
different main ideas in the passage
Markers, whiteboard
http://www.englishdaily626.com/summary.php?024
A Comprehensive English Course by Uriel Narinesingh and Clifford
Narinesingh
Copies of the passage Thai Food
(CLASSIFICATION)
ASSESSMENT
Formative
4. Identify redundancies in a passage.

(cognitive)
5. Select redundancies to be omitted in a
summary (cognitive)
6. Rephrase sentences to reflect the main
idea, without repetition. (cognitive)
Students will change rewrite

sentences that contain
redundancies.
Summative
Students will identify repetition
in the passage Thai Food and
re write the passage as a
summary.
PROCEDURE
SET INDUCTION:
Teacher will write a sentence that has
redundancies on the board and ask students volunteer to come up
and underline words in the sentence that are repeating the same
meaning.
TEACHING
1. Teacher explains that redundancies
are just like repetition. However,
repetition helps the reader understand
the passage better and it reinforces
an important point. In summary
writing repletion is omitted as long as
the main idea has already been
mentioned.
2. The teacher places another sentence
on the board with redundancies and
identifies the repetition and rewrites
the sentence.
3. Students are given 3 sentences to
rewrite individually, removing the
redundancies form the sentences.
4. The teacher distributes copies of the
passage Thai Food to students.
5. Students are instructed to work in
pairs to identify the instances of
repetition in the passage.
6. Students are asked to present their
responses to the class. The class gives
feedback as to the accuracy of the
responses.
7. Students are instructed to ensure that
each person has all the repetitions
highlighted in their worksheet.
LEARNING
Listening/Thinking and
responding
Modelling
Writing
Pair work
Speaking/Peer review
CLOSURE: A student is asked to remind the class of the purpose of

repetition and why it is omitted in summary writing.
LESSON EVALUATION: Students will write a summary of the passage

Thai Food and return to the teacher for assessment according to a
prepared rubric.
CONTINGENCY PLAN:
TEACHERS EVALUATION OF THE LESSON: Students understood the

concept but in some cases still included repetitions thinking that they were
different ideas because they were worded differently. A follow up lesson is
needed on this topic. They were able to identify redundancies in sentences
read aloud to them.
Sentences Containing Redundancies

1. The spectators at the cricket match were few in number.
2. Young people today make decisions without assistance and help from
anybody else.
3. There was much injustice in the unfair treatment to him.
4. They all agreed and unanimously decided to take part in the cycling
competition.
5. The army retreated back to the hills in order to prolong the long battle.
Instructions: Write a summary of the passage below in no

more than 120 words. Pay attention to omitting repetition.
Thais give a great deal of thought and time to the planning and
preparation of their meals. There is an infinite variety of recipes
from which they can choose, and rarely would a household repeat
the same dish within a fortnight.
The staple food is rice which is the base for most meals. The most
commonly-used meats are pork and chicken, with a little beef.
Fresh fish and other seafood are plentiful and very popular. Fish
can be eaten fresh, salted, dried, fermented and in many other
ways. Vegetables too come in profuse variety and are
unbelievably cheap. Green leafy vegetables, shoots, roots and
young leaves are popular in salads and soups. Even pumpkins and
watermelons are used in soups.
Normally, breakfast in a Thai household would probably consist of
a lightly boiled egg or rice soup, followed by 'ba ton ko' which are
crisp, hollow, fried roots, often dipped in condensed milk. Lunch is
likely to feature one of many different sorts of noodles available;
and perhaps, dumplings made from flour and sago with a savory
filling. The main meal of the day is usually taken early in the
evening, with rice as the base for the accompanying dishes such
as curried meat, fish, vegetables and noodles. Other savory
concoctions generally called 'kap khoa' are prepared with great
care and add to the main course. Sweet meats and dishes and
fresh fruits, complete the meal. A glass of water is the usual drink
taken with the meal.
In Thailand, people virtually eat all day long as it is very
convenient to buy snacks. Food vendors station themselves
outside offices during the day and outside cinemas at night. Other
vendors ride bicycles or motorcycles peddling their wares. When
traveling by train, the most outstanding feature of the journey is
the rush of food vendors every time the train stops at a station.
They offer drinks, sweets and even hot dishes like rice and
chicken. However, these vendors are slowly disappearing as
commuters are more careful about the food they eat.
Thais do not customarily mix everything into one plate, but take
one serving at a time, to be eaten before proceeding to the next.
Meals are eaten with a fork and spoon. Noodles are often taken in
Chinese fashion with chopsticks.
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH LESSON PLAN
CLASS:
5L

DATE: 02/04/2015
THEME/TOPIC: Summary Writing-Omitting Statistical Data and Examples
CURRICULUM STANDARD: extract specific information from what is read or
heard; draw valid conclusions and inferences from information presented
TEACHING POINT: Statistics and examples are used to persuade the
reader of the authors point of view. In summary writing, statistics
and examples are omitted or paraphrased.
PURPOSE / RATIONALE: Statistics and examples are very common in
expository pieces used for summary writing. Students need to omit the
examples and if needed, paraphrase the statistics given into prose.
paraphrasing, omitting repetitions
Students may find it difficult
paraphrase sentences using quantifiers instead of statistics
Laptop, projector
Copies of CSEC English A January 2010 Section A
Copies of Using Quantifiers worksheet
ASSESSMENT
to
(CLASSIFICATION)
Formative
5. Identify examples used in expository

writing. (cognitive)
6. Select examples to be omitted in
summary writing. (cognitive)
7. Identify the use of statistics in a passage.
(cognitive)
8. Select appropriate quantifiers to use in
replacing statistics. (cognitive)
Students will paraphrase

sentences containing statistics
in the Using Quantifiers
worksheet. Students will identify
examples use din CSEC English
A January 2010
Summative
summary from CSEC English A
January 2010
PROCEDURE
SET INDUCTION: The teacher asks the students to carefully read
the following sentences on the board: The amount of students
passing English was 62% this term and 50% last term. They did
well in exams, for example in story writing, summary writing and
comprehension. The teacher then asks the students to rewrite the
sentences without the statistics and in the shortest way possible
while preserving the meaning.
TEACHING
1. The teacher reads some of the
responses from the set induction and
asks the students to explain why they
choose to omit or change certain parts
of the sentences.
2. The teacher provides a word list of
some words that will indicate the use
of examples in writing:
For example, like, to illustrate, etc.
3. The teacher provides some examples
of sentences with examples on the
board and re writes the first one.
4. Students are told to work in pairs and
complete the remaining sentences.
When completed each pair reads their
response aloud to the class.
5. The teacher provides another word list
of words that can be used to
substitute statistics in a passage.
6. The teacher distributes copies of the
Using Quantifiers handout and told to
work in groups to complete it. The
teacher will complete the first
sentence in the worksheet as an
example.
7. The teacher goes to each group and
provides feedback to their responses.
8. The teacher shows the passage from
CSEC English A January 2010 on the
projector on the whiteboard and
distributes copies of the passage.
9. Individual students are asked to come
LEARNING
Word list
Modelling
Pair work
Word List
Group work/Modelling
and circle examples in the passage

and underline statistics.
10.
Each students is given time to
ensure that they have all the
examples
CLOSURE: The students are asked to list the things that are omitted when
writing a summary.
LESSON EVALUATION: Students will complete CSEC English A January

2010 at home and return to the teacher to assess according to a
prepared rubric.
CONTINGENCY PLAN: If copies are unavailable the worksheets and

exercises can be displayed on the projector.
TEACHERS EVALUATION OF THE LESSON: The students grasped the idea

of quantifiers to replace statistics. They also found the word list of words that
introduce examples to be very useful. However, they found some difficulty in
applying this to a complete summary writing task. They were able to omit
the majority of statistics and examples but still left some in the summary.
Sentences Containing Examples

1. The schools bazaar had many stall, like drinks, BBQ, corn soup and
doubles.
2. Most of the class was suspended last week for infractions of the
schools code of conduct, namely, destruction of school property,
fighting and tardiness.
3. Jeromes poor work ethic, as seen in his late coming, disrespect and
poor customer service, resulted in him being fired.
Using Quantifiers
Use quantifiers from the list below to rewrite the passage.
MORE THAN, LESS THAN, DOUBLED, REDUCED, INCREASED, HALVED
The amount of murders in Trinidad and Tobago for the year 2011 was 342.
For the year 2012, the number was 4500. Police sources said that the
amount of persons convicted for serious crimes in the country was 50 for the
year 2011, compared to 25 in the year 2012. The amount of robberies is also
a cause of serious concern in Trinidad and Tobago. During the year 2011,
there were 570 reported cases. For the year, 2012 there are 1020 cases
reported to the police. However, there has been some improvement when it
comes to car thefts. For the year 2011, 460 vehicles are stolen and in 2012
there were 320 reports.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH LESSON PLAN
CLASS:
5L
ESTIMATED DURATION: 1 Period-40 minutes

DATE: 07/04/2015
THEME/TOPIC: Summary Writing: Determining the Writers Intention
CURRICULUM STANDARD: extract implied information
TEACHING POINT: The writers intention is the purpose is the reason
why the text was written. There are four main purposes to an
authors passage: to persuade, to inform, to entertain and to
explain.
PURPOSE / RATIONALE: Writers have different intentions when writing an
expository piece. It is very important in both summary writing and
comprehension that students can clearly identify the purpose. Ability to do
this will allow students to arrive at the intended meaning that the author has
when employing various literary techniques.
paraphrasing, omitting repetitions, omitting examples and statistics
ANTICIPATED DIFFICULTY: Literary techniques such as exaggeration
and sarcasm may be understood literally by the students.
Copies CSEC English A Past Papers: P02 Section A-Jan. 2013
Authors Purpose Graphic Organiser
Authors Purpose Worksheet
http://worksheets.teachnology.com/language_arts/authors/ver1/index.h
tml
(CLASSIFICATION)
ASSESSMENT
Formative
1.
Identify the authors purpose in text
(to persuade, to inform, to entertain and to
explain). (cognitive)

Authors Purpose graphic
organiser and activity
2.
Differentiate the authors purpose
from persuasive techniques used in the
text. (cognitive)
3.
Understand how the authors purpose
affects the content of the text. (affective)
Summative
summary from CSEC English A
P02 January 2013
PROCEDURE
SET INDUCTION: The teacher writes the following words on the
board: entertain, persuade, inform and asks the students to
explain the difference between them.
TEACHING
11.
The teacher uses the students
responses from the set induction and
tabulates the differences between the
terms. The students take down the
table in their notebooks.
12.
The teacher asks the students
to formulate some questions that they
would ask themselves to find out if a
piece of writing is entertaining,
informative or persuasive.
13.
Students are given the Authors
Purpose Graphic Organiser and their
attention is drawn to the questions on
the graphic organiser.
14.
The teacher divides the class
into 3 groups and distributes the
Authors Purpose Worksheet.
Students are instructed to complete
the activity and prepare reasons for
their answers.
15.
Students present their answers
and reasons for their selection.
16.
The teacher distributes CSEC
English A P02 January 2013 to the
students. Students are told to use the
Authors Purpose Graphic Organsier
to individually determine the writers
intention and write down reasons to
support their answer.
17.
The teacher visits individual
students and provides feedback.
LEARNING
Graphic organiser
Word list
Speaking
Writing
CLOSURE: Three students are given a slip of paper with one of the writers
purposes, the student must explain what the term given means and how it is
different from the others.
LESSON EVALUATION: Students will complete CSEC English A January

2010 at home and return to the teacher to assess according to a
prepared rubric.
CONTINGENCY PLAN: If copies are unavailable the worksheets and

exercises can be displayed on the projector.
TEACHERS EVALUATION OF THE LESSON: The leading questions in

identifying the authors purpose made students identify the types of passage
presented easily.
Authors Purpose
To Persuade
Did the author try to make me laugh?
(Entertain)
Did the author want to tell me a story?

(Entertain)
Did the author try to amuse me?

(Entertain)
Did the author give me facts? (Inform)
Did the author try to teach me

something? (Inform)
Did the author try to convince me?

(Persuade)
To Inform
To Entertain
Did the author want to change my

opinion?
(Persuade)
Authors Purpose
Instructions: Write the authors purpose (to inform, to persuade, to entertain)
for the extracts below.
1. It was a glorious morning in Alabama. The sun was shining through the
trees. Alan couldn't wait to find his fishing pole and call his friend Sam to go
fishing. They had a great time on these early morning fishing trips. They took
their dogs with them and the dogs would swim in the lake while they fished.
It was so funny to watch those dogs paddle around the lake.
What is the author's purpose of this writing? ____________________________
2. The Underground Railroad was a secret organization which helped slaves
escape to freedom. Many slaves were able to escape because of the
conductors and station masters. The northern states were free states and
slaves were free once they arrived in the north. Secret codes and signals
were used to identify the conductors and station masters.
What is the author's purpose of this writing? ____________________________
3. The Slim-O-Matic will cause you to lose pounds and inches from your body
in one month. This amazing machine helps you to exercise correctly and
provides an easy video to show you the proper way to exercise. Send $75.99
and begin exercising today.
What is the author's purpose of this writing? ___________________________
Appendix 6
Pre-test Samples: GIST Method
Post-test Samples: GIST Method
Appendix 7
Student Questionnaire: GIST Method
Student Questionnaire: Magnet Summary
Appendix 8
Student Self Efficacy Tests (Before Intervention)
Student Self-Efficacy Tests (After Intervention)
Appendix 9
Student Journals

"Getting To The Point": Using GIST and Magnet Summary in Teaching Summary Writing at The CSEC Level.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND EDUCATION

Getting to the point: Using GIST and Magnet Summary

(Name & ID#)

TUTOR: MS. S. PHILLIP

DATE: Friday 10th April, 2015

Running Head: GIST AND MAGNET SUMMARY

based on academic performance in school exams, as such there may be

The alternatives to be used are Generating Interaction between Schemata and

increase and eventually result in a greater performance in exam. With greater

Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), has published reports on candidates

anchors strongly disagree and strongly agree. Students notebooks acted as a

supporting details in a passage, and combining them to produce a summary.

Pre-test and Post-test

Frequency of completion of tasks

Frequency of completion of tasks

Introducing GIST The GIST method

The GIST method

1. Separate text into smaller

Students will complete

Listening and responding

Students will write

Listening and responding

Student will complete

Listening and responding

Students will write

Listening and responding

Students will identify

Listening and responding

1. Identify the different

Repetition is when 1. Identify redundancies in

1. Identify examples used in

1. Identify the authors

Figure 2. Curriculum Study Unit Map

GIST and Magnet Summary 26

GIST and Magnet Summary 27

GIST and Magnet Summary 28

practice in summary writing to build on the improvements in performance

GIST Method (30 marks)

Magnet Summary (30 marks)

GIST and Magnet Summary 29

GIST and Magnet Summary 30

Figure 5. Column graph showing students self-perceived ability to identify

GIST and Magnet Summary 31

capable of identifying the main idea in a passage. Another question asked

Figure 6. Bar graph showing student perception of understanding teaching

GIST and Magnet Summary 32

strategy and its

method because it broke the

passage into smaller parts.

intervention. As it was the

They were able to find the

second strategy employed

main idea quickly, however

they found difficulty in

expanding the 5Ws and

There were mixed reviews

How into complete

with some preferring this

sentences. One wrote There

method while others

is a limited amount of words

preferring GIST. The step